No panic from Brian McClennan as stricken Leeds take on leaders

Leeds Rhinos are champions who are wobbling and will drop out of the Engage Super League top eight if an injury-ravaged team fail to derail Wigan Warriors’ bandwagon at the DW Stadium tonight.

A fifth defeat in eight matches would represent Leeds’s worst league run since 2006, the season before their three-year Super League monopoly began. The position is far from irretrievable, but the Rhinos desperately need a reversal in their injury fortunes.

“Even I don’t know a concrete 17 taking the field Friday night,” said Brian McClennan, the Leeds coach, who is refusing to panic. “We’ve a philosophy where whatever 17 we name, we count that as our best 17.